There is a rugged area along the North Carolina/Tennessee state line, known as “Jeffrey’s Hell.”
Located within the Citico Wilderness Area and adjoining a portion of the Joyce Kilmer – Slickrock Wilderness Area, it is an area of dense rhododendron and laurel so thick that one must crawl on hands and knees to get through some of it.
The area is said to have gotten the name “Jeffrey’s Hell” from a hunter named Ebenezer Jeffrey, who entered the area in search of his prized hunting dog.
There are different stories as to his outcome. One story is that upon leaving, he said he would find his dog or go to hell trying. This account says he was never seen again. Another story tells that after being lost for days in the jungle-like terrain, he emerged barely able to walk with his clothes in tatters. When asked where he had been, he replied, “I’ve been in hell.”
If Jeffrey did make it out alive, others were not as fortunate. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, several men who had gone into Jeffrey’s Hell never returned. This was a mystery, as these were “woods-wise,” local people who knew their way around. Searches for the men turned up not a clue.
That is not unusual – as having been In Jeffrey’s Hell, I know that you could pass within a few feet of a body and never see it because of the dense underbrush and rock outcroppings.
Logging operations – which began in the area around 1917 – may have helped solve some of the mystery of what happened to at least some of these men. The construction of logging roads loosed several large boulders. When this occurred, large numbers of rattlesnakes and copperheads would emerge. Human skeletons were found in the vicinity of these snake dens, leading loggers to think that these were of men who had gotten snake bit and died trying to get out.
Other skeletons were found in bear traps where people had died a slow, agonizing death.
North Carolina and Tennessee had a lengthy legal battle over where the line between the two states should go in this area, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. When the matter settled, Tennessee stated that North Carolina was generous – in that they gave Tennessee Jeffrey’s Hell.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He is retired from the Graham County Rescue Squad. Email him at mcclungs@email.com.